When the good news came, Wang Zheng was already sleeping in the training room, but after hearing the news, he immediately got up and went to the study. Gan Ning's messenger presented the cloth. After he opened it and looked at it briefly, he couldn't help but smile, and immediately asked the messenger: "
This rubbish says that more than a thousand people were beheaded, how come there are only this few people?"
Nanchang is the seat of Yuzhang County. Logically speaking, the garrison should not be less than 5,000. In addition, Gan Ning did not bring many men and horses this time, so it was impossible to leave too many prisoners to prevent accidents. Calculated in this way, at least
It is reasonable to behead two to three thousand people, and according to common practice, when enemies are killed on the battlefield, the number of enemies killed written on the victory report is always inconsistent with the actual number of enemies killed. It is usually several times the number, and there are exaggerators.
He may actually kill thousands of enemies, but the number written on the cloth is tens of thousands.
This is not entirely because the generals themselves want to falsely report their achievements and receive rewards for their merits, because there are two types of military reports and public announcements. The former is sent to internal high-level officials to see, while the latter is meant to be spread throughout the world to talk to the common people and ordinary people.
The soldiers listened to it in order to boost their morale and at the same time deter the enemy.
Therefore, Wang Zheng has this question.
"Report to Zhou Mu." The envoy replied respectfully: "General Gan originally planned to write a debunk as usual, but he was dissuaded by the Taishi Colonel."
"Oh?" Wang Zheng became interested and asked sideways, "What did Tai Shici say?"
"Taishi Xiaowei said: If we kill the enemy's army, we can double the prestige of our country, but it is not necessary. However, Yuzhang also belongs to Yangzhou. The purpose of this army is to regain the territory and put down the rebellion. How can we promote our country's prestige? If
The numbers are still exaggerated. Isn't it just that we are taking the initiative to show the instability of Yangzhou to the people and the enemy?'
The envoy said: "General Gan deeply believes that, so according to the opinion of the Grand Historian, the number of thieves killed written on this cloth is a real number."
"Well, I am also convinced that Taishi Ziyi is indeed a pillar of talent."
"What are your views on public discipline?" Wang Zheng smiled and asked gently.
Lu Ji was startled for a moment, then he came to his senses and immediately bowed to congratulate him: "General Gan is so brave, congratulations to my lord." But he knew in his heart that such a good news would not make Wang Zheng summon him late at night and raise his head to look at his face.
Look, I looked at his expression carefully, but I didn't guess what was going on, so I asked tentatively: "Could it be that General Gan will return to the city to offer prisoners soon, do you want to prepare in advance?"
Wang Zheng said he was being careful, but Lu Ji understood that his Jiujiang prefect was doing his duty. If there were internal thieves, the probability of Jiangdong's local civil and military forces appearing would naturally be greater. This cannot be said to be Wang Zheng's prejudice. Lu Ji would have done the same.
Think about it this way, "My lord, if there is indeed a traitor and he is a nobleman, does the Ba family's previously planned strategy for conquering the bush also need to be changed?"
Seeing that Lu Ji's eyes were slightly worried, Wang Zheng laughed and pretended not to know. He just handed the cloth over and said, "Hua Xin has been disobedient for a long time. Gan Ning and Tai Shici have defeated the thieves on the front line and captured Nanchang a few days ago."
Wang Zheng raised his eyebrows, opened the map and looked at it, then shook his head slightly: "This location is not suitable."
Looking at Lu Ji with interest, Wang Zheng said happily: "What two things and what three conditions?"
"In addition, there are also many secret spies from various princes hiding in our Shouchun City. After discovering it, it is not impossible that they would send someone to remind Liu Biao for fear of dying."
"The first thing is to determine whether Liu Biao's knowledge of the matter is really an internal leak in Yangzhou. The second most important thing is to determine how Liu Biao will prevent it if he takes precautions."
"Under the might of my lord, all the heroes will be subdued." After hearing this, Lu Ji looked solemn and said solemnly: "We have been strategizing and planning for many days. According to my opinion, we will win the second battle!"
"The general has asked him to send more capable people to Xiangyang to investigate carefully, but so far nothing has been found." Wang Zheng glanced at Lu Ji and asked: "Time is urgent, public discipline, you should pay attention to this matter."
"If it were a head-on battle," Wang Zheng smiled slightly, "I would naturally be full of confidence, but there is something that makes me hesitate."
However, Lu Ji's next words made his smile freeze, "My lord, if this person is really talented and loyal to Liu Biao, he may deliberately hide his edge or even show his clumsiness in order to find out what is true in Yangzhou."
Hearing this, Wang Zheng thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and asked: "There is no mention of Hua Xin, the governor of Yuzhang, on the dew cloth. Where is this person now?"
"Yu Zhang has not yet finished his decision. What will he do when he returns to Shouchun?"
When something comes to Guo Jia's mind, he will consider the time and whether it is appropriate. He is afraid of delaying the other person's rest. At this time, Lu Ji doesn't care about anything. Whenever I want to ask, you have to give me the answer!
Of course, there was more to it than just this. After all, since he thought that Lu Xun might be the "Lu Xun", Wang Zheng naturally looked at Lu Ji, a "nobody", in a different light. After pondering for a moment, he took the initiative to bring up another topic:
"Gongji, now that Nanchang has been lost and Hua Xin has nowhere to stay, he must be in panic. He has sent people to Jingzhou to ask for help. I think our army and the Jingzhou army will face each other in Yuzhang in the near future."
This made Lu Ji question him. Lu Xun had decided to change his name on his own. He didn't agree with it in the first place, and the reason he gave was even more ridiculous. He couldn't make it public. After hesitating for a moment, he could only say helplessly: "This guy is young, shallow, and willful. It was a reckless move, and because I left in such a hurry, I still don’t know the reason.”
That's it.
Wang Zheng nodded slightly. It was actually best to ask Lu Xun about this matter, but he didn't pay attention at first. When he heard that Lu Xun had changed his name, he originally thought it was just a homonym. The "Xun" was not Pi Xun, so he didn't I haven’t really directly connected it with the historical general and prime minister of Soochow. After all, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Xun’s first appearance was decades later in the Battle of Yiling, and that At that time, he still looked like a young scholar. Logically speaking, he was at least two generations behind people like Zhou Yulusu.
Do you mean pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger?
Lu Ji's words reminded Wang Zheng of the fat messenger Dong Zhao sent by Cao Cao to Xiapi. If Zhang Zhao hadn't reminded him, he would have been deceived by this person. He couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart. He pondered for a moment and expressed his agreement: "My lord, Ji's words are not unreasonable. This person's stay in Shouchun was not short. If he really wanted to investigate and deliberately showed weakness, it would not be surprising if he discovered something."
Even after talking about this, Lu Ji still didn't understand, "My lord is worried that someone in Shouchun will be liaising with the enemy from within and leaking information?"
"How to prevent it, first of all, how many soldiers and horses are used."
Lu Ji said: "No matter what, how Liu Biao learned about this matter really needs to be investigated clearly."
Lu Ji explained: "After moving his capital to Xu County, Cao Cao made great efforts to strengthen his troops. Everyone knew that he had plans for Nanyang. Therefore, in recent years, Liu Biao stationed more troops on the defense line in the north of Jing than in the south of Jing. Even if he knew that his lord wanted to go south, he also
It is impossible to mobilize all the troops in Jingbei immediately, otherwise we will lose sight of one thing."
At this point, Wang Zheng paused and said meaningfully to Lu Ji: "Subsequently, sentries came to report that there were signs of large-scale troop mobilization in Changsha and the counties bordering Jiangxia."
In fact, it can be seen from this incident that Lu Ji's status in Wang Zheng's heart is indeed not high. To put it bluntly, he does not regard him as one of his own.
"That envoy?" Wang Zheng recalled for a moment, shook his head and laughed: "He doesn't look like a talented person."
Hidden edge and exposed clumsiness?
Xingan was the Xingan of Gan Province in the later Chinese dynasty, and it was not a famous city. However, the reason why Wang Zheng felt it was inappropriate was because it was located in the middle of Gan Province and in the middle reaches of the Gan River. To put it bluntly, it was not only beneficial to the navy, but also to the middle reaches of the Gan River.
The position is too deep. If Hua Xin stays here, if the Jingzhou Army rushes for reinforcements in the future, won't they have to go as deep as this?
It was impossible for Gan Ning to allow Hua Xin to "luckily" escape during the chaos of the war. This envoy was his personal soldier and one of the insiders. He was not surprised when he heard this and just asked: "
What does Zhou Mu think?"
"Is this happening?" Lu Ji was surprised when he heard this: "Master, are you saying that when our army intends to go south, Jingzhou has already known about it in advance?"
"promise!"
After the envoy left, Wang Zheng remained in the study by himself. At this time, he had completely disappeared from sleep. He read the rubbish and the military report carefully again, pondered for a moment, and called out in a loud voice: "Come here, please go and ask for filial piety. It's better to forget it."
, let Lu Ji, the prefect of Jiujiang, come to the palace to see me."
"My lord is right. If there is a traitor, it must be a noble person?" Lu Ji agreed deeply and asked, "Did Mr. Mi find out the source of the leak?"
"The secret report came from Jingzhou. The letter said that Liu Biao suddenly cursed the general in the palace not long ago, and even angered the servants in the palace. Among them, more than ten people from Qingzhou were killed by him."
"Yeah." Wang Zheng slightly nodded and asked: "The second thing you mentioned, how did Liu Biao prevent it, and what do you mean?"
"In other words, only by confirming two things and meeting three conditions can our army make a decision to change the strategy."
"It is not only internal communication with foreign enemies. Although Jingzhou is connected to seven counties, the scale of this battle is very large and requires the mobilization of manpower and material resources from the entire Yangzhou. However, due to the scale of the matter, not to mention ordinary people, ordinary soldiers, just some generals and county magistrates
, at most we can only guess that there may be a foreign war within the year, but we may not be able to guess where the general intends to launch troops."
"My lord, please don't forget that Jingzhou sent a delegation to congratulate you on your wedding." Lu Ji explained: "After all, there are too many things involved in the war to destroy the country. If others find out about the clues, they will go back and report it.
possible."
"That's right." Wang Zheng nodded slightly: "Can Gongji now guess what hesitating in my heart?"
"I don't know about the company's records. A few days ago, I received a secret report from the Benming Division."
"Forehead."
"No, no, I was dealing with official documents just now, and I didn't fall asleep." Lu Ji quickly replied: "My lord, I wonder what the summons is about?"
"You should work harder. Return to Nanchang tonight and tell Gan Ning two things. First, I will send 5,000 troops south to support him tomorrow to help him and try to pacify the north of Yuzhang within a month. Second,"
"I see." Wang Zheng nodded and asked casually, "Then why did he suddenly change his name to Lu Xun? I seem to remember that his original name was Lu Yi, right?"
"Well," Wang Zheng understood immediately and nodded repeatedly, "If we drive away tigers through the front door and let in wolves through the back door, it will be in vain."
Lu Ji was startled: "Master, why are you so hesitant?"
"A secret report from the Benming Division?" Lu Ji was shocked when he heard this name: "What are you talking about?"
"Why did Duke Ji say this?" Wang Zheng was startled, "If it wasn't a traitor, how would Liu Biao know about it?"
Wang Zheng, the Jingzhou envoy, has met him several times, but has no impression at all. Now he has even forgotten his name. He is obviously a nobody and an incompetent person. Not to mention that he does not have the ability to find clues from clues, so what if he finds it?
Didn't Mi Fang promise so swornly? Has this person been bribed?
Just six words, but it made Lu Ji feel refreshed!
After all, if this were the case, it would have only reached the ears of Guo Jia in the past. Unfortunately, today it was finally Lu Ji's turn.
Lu Ji naturally did not dare to neglect such an opportunity. After thinking for a long time, he said slowly and carefully, "How to change the marching strategy? Let's not talk about it for now. I think that before making changes, two things must be clarified. What's more,
There are three conditions."
Wang Zheng took the initiative to stand up and greet him, and said warmly: "Gong Ji is here. I'm going to fight you late at night. Did it disturb your dreams?"
Lu Ji explained: "This boy has always admired the majesty of the lord, so he has long been willing to join the army. He met Governor Zhou through an encounter in Shouchun, and they became like old friends at first sight. Therefore, when General Zhou went to Wancheng to take up his post, he
Followed."
Wang Zheng pondered for a moment, then stretched out his hand and tapped lightly on the southwest side of the map: "Let our Governor Hua move again, to Yichun."
But after returning to Shouchun, I checked the list of officials in Wancheng and found out that it was really the word "xun", which made me a little suspicious. I thought about it today, and on a whim, I just asked him to enter the palace to inquire.
Wang Zheng laughed dumbly, glanced at Lu Ji, and suddenly asked: "By the way, when I went to attend Gong Jin's wedding banquet, I discovered something. Why did your nephew run away to Wancheng?"
"Your Majesty."
"oh?"
"On the day the city was broken, Hua Xin escaped by chance. According to the report from the sentry, he seemed to have gone to Xingan County in the south."
"Xingan?"
Half an hour later, there was the sound of footsteps outside the door, but after Lu Ji heard the news, he immediately got up to change his clothes and hurried over: "I, Lu Ji, pay my respects to my lord."
"My lord, these words describe it very aptly and vividly."
Lu Ji's eyes lit up, and after a quick flattery, he continued: "Our army not only needs to find out the strength of the defense line south of Jingzhou, but also the strength of its troops and horses, such as Xiling, E County, Jingzhou in Jiangxia
How many soldiers and horses are stationed in the army, how many days can the food stored in these places last, and who are the generals leading the army, etc."
Xiling and E County are both the targets of the first wave of attacks in the south as mentioned in the strategy. When Wang Zheng heard this, he nodded repeatedly and even thought of going deeper.
"Yes, yes, not only that, we also need to find out if we attack one of the cities, how long will it take for the other cities to receive the news, and how many reinforcements will be mobilized?"
"Where are the reinforcements most likely to come from, and who is the general leading the reinforcements? What if the city cannot be conquered within ten days? What if the city cannot be conquered within twenty days?"